10/07/2003Two Former Hudson Valley Football Players to Appear on National Television this Weekend

Since 1969, the Hudson Valley Community College football team has had a long history of sending players to the NCAA Division I level. Two of those players will make an appearance on national television this weekend.

Huey Whittaker, a 6-5 senior wide receiver at the University of South Florida, will lead his Bulls against nationally ranked Texas Christian University on Friday, October 10. The game, which begins at 8 p.m., will be broadcast on ESPN2. South Florida is 3-1 and TCU is 5-0. Both teams are 2-0 in Conference USA games.

Whittaker had nine catches for 96 yards and one touchdown in South Florida's 31-28 win over the University of Louisville last Saturday. He leads the Bulls with 22 catches for 284 yards and two touchdowns.

Keith Hill, a junior defensive end at the University of Pittsburgh, led Hudson Valley with 70 tackles in 2000. Hill, currently listed second on the depth chart at defensive end for Pittsburgh, has two tackles in four games.

Pittsburgh, ranked 16th in the latest ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, hosts the University of Notre Dame at 6 p.m. on Saturday, October 11. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

Hudson Valley's football program was established in 1969. At the time, Hudson Valley was one of only two junior colleges in New York to field a varsity football team. Since then, nearly 300 Hudson Valley football players have earned scholarships to four-year schools and 15 have gone on to play professionally. The Vikings competed in the Coca-Cola Bowl in Iowa in 1980. In 1996, Hudson Valley posted an 8-0 record, part of a dominant stretch that included 15 straight victories.